Contents

Once again: There is an open Call for Papers for the FIG Congress 2006
in Munich. The deadline for abstracts is 15 March 2006. One of the
topics for the call for papers is “Improving participation of
under-represented groups”. For more information:
http://www.fig2006.de/e/themes.htm. I would be very pleased to
organize one or two sessions concerning this subject with your
presentations.

The 2005 year may be recognized as a very fruitful period of Gender and
Cartography commission of the International Cartographic Association
because of two scientific events. The first one was The Open Discussion
Forum in Poland (Wrocław, 11-12 February) devoted to basic problems
connected with cartographic presentation of under-representation within
different societies in the globe, the second – participation of
commission’s members in XXII ICC “Mapping Approaches into a Changing World
(Coruna, Spain, 11-16 July). GaC commission was responded for organization
of two sessions in the frame of 21 themes titled ‘Gender and
under-represented groups and cartography’. Such problems as: gender’s
diversification of school map understanding (T. Bandrova, Bulgaria),
barriers in determination of under-represented groups (e. Krzywicka-Blum,
Poland), case of woman in cartography (L. Phalaagae, Botswana), the role
of women in the Atlas of Spain (D. Abad, Spain) and Community mapping:
changing lifestyles through participation (S. Perkins, UK) were presented.
Very interesting appears also two commission’s meetings during the
conference. The results of Wrocław’s forum and mentioned discussions above
were formulated in the form of 29 propositions for part society of the
Agenda prepared by EC of ICA (Prof Kirsi Virrantaus). On commission’s web
side first maps in a prepared system of population are accessible
( http://www.geo.ar.wroc.pl/GC/
).

The first International Conference on Cartography and GIS
(January,25-28, 2006 Borovets, Bulgaria) was an event very interesting not
only from the scientific but also interpersonal contacts within several
groups of research workers and representatives of organisations from the
Central and East Europe (DATAMAP-Europe, ESRI). The open meeting of ICA's
Gender and Cartography commission was devoted actual and future
activities. Participants considered the question if the consequence of
changing profile of terms of reference shouldn't be proposed a new
commission's name. Suitable resolution may be accepted during the next
General Assembly in Moscow (2007)-

Twenty years ago I embarked on research on the position of women in
surveying, and by the time of its completion in 1990, women composed 5% of
surveyors in Britain (Greed, 1990). Whilst great progress has, apparently,
been made in the intervening period of time, in 2004 women still only
represent just 10% of surveyors in the UK (RICS,2003; Watts,2003) (See
Tables 1 and 2). In comparison, women comprised 6% of lawyers in 1974 and
they are now comprise 40% of the profession, with more female than male
lawyers under the age of 30. The first woman lawyer qualified in the UK in
1922 (a Carrie Morrison) and if the current geometric rates of growth
continue by 2105 we will see the last male lawyer to qualify and the legal
profession will become entirely female (Rose, 2005). In comparison in 1984
4% of architects were women, whereas today 10% of the architectural
profession is female (RIBA, 2003; De Graft-Johnson et al, 2005). Meanwhile
town planning has always attracted more women with female membership of
the RTPI running at around 25% of the total but women still compose less
than 5% of senior management posts in planning (Greed (ed) 2003). So one
encounters a mixed, even contradictory picture, with some aspects being
much better and some issues remaining unresolved, or even going backwards
in terms of lack of progress. This paper, based on perusing the surveying
and property press, and drawing on recent research, seeks to look below
the surface and discuss what is really going on in the surveying
profession nowadays.

Table 1: Membership of the Built Environment
Professions

Table 2: Percentages of Women in the RICS 1994
and 2004 by Membership Category

Source: Raising the Ratio and RICS data

There is undoubtedly a growth in the numbers of women entering the
built environment and construction professions. Whereas in the past one
was glad to find any women at all in some of the construction and property
professions nowadays they seem, at first sight, to be everywhere and
encountering few problems. But this paper argues this is not necessarily
so. Whilst there are many more women students, there is a significant drop
out after qualification and a continuing attrition of numbers at key
stages in subsequent career development (Sweet, 2005). For example, in our
recent research on the architectural profession we found that whilst 18%
of students were female in 1984, women comprise 33% of architectural
students today, but over half never actually went into architecture. Thus
the argument that it is only a matter of time before the women catch up
does not hold water (De Graft Johnson et al, 2003). Likewise in surveying,
according to an article in Property Week (28.5.04) only 55% of those
completing RICS surveying degrees go on to become fully qualified
surveyors with women disproportionately dropping out. Those women who do
persevere find that their salaries are, on average, 27% lower than those
of men, according to RICS survey findings published in RICS Business
journal in April 2004, pp 20-22.

Nevertheless, there are definitely more women around nowadays in the
workplace, in the professions and in management, and the situation is very
different from when I first started my own career and subsequent research.
There have been many changes, and sometimes improvements, in equalities
legislation, maternity rights and childcare provision. There has been a
paradigm shift within society itself; it is now acceptable for women to
have a career as a well as a family. Many young women take this as
'normal' and cannot understand what all the fuss was about, and tend to be
embarrassed by the word 'feminism' and appear to have little knowledge of
what things were like before women campaigned to change the situation. Yet
the situation is far from perfect, and nowadays one must look more
carefully at the subtle mechanisms that are at work, controlling and
channelling women in certain career routes rather than others.

In Britain 'surveying' encompasses a range of specialisms and careers
under the membership of the RICS, ranging from property, urban planning
and estate management, where more women are to be found - to the more
technological fields of 'real' land surveying, construction and building
engineering, where still there are less women. There is no doubt that
nowadays one can find some truly spectacular women in very high levels
within the professions, government and major organisations, particularly
within property and urban planning but also to some extent in surveying
itself. For example the Director of the Ordnance Survey in Britain is now
a woman, Vanessa Lawrence, a situation that one would have imagined to be
impossible 20 years ago. In 2004 for the first time a woman stood for the
post of RICS president, Delva Patman, albeit unsuccessfully, and it is
likely that the next president of the RTPI will be a woman (Janet
O'Neil).The Chief Planning Inspector, responsible for the national
development control system is a woman, Katrina Sporle, as is the head of
the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Karen Dunnell. We even have a
woman Minister for Planning and Housing, Yvette Cooper, who at the time of
appointment was a mere 35 years old in July 2005 and was the first
planning minister to take maternity leave (see Regeneration and Renewal
11.0.3.05 on page 21) but there is criticism of the lack of women in
regeneration agencies, expressed on page 20 of the same journal. Whilst
there are some individual women in very senior positions in regeneration,
such as Lorraine Baldry, chair of the London Thames Gateway Development
Corporation (responsible for the huge western expansion of the city's
development), others consider that women as a whole are being 'pushed to
the margins' within urban renewal bodies and policies (see www.regen.net).
The property journals frequently feature successful women who have become
partners or directors of international surveying firms. Furthermore, with
some significant expectations, one seldom finds such successful
figureheads taking a visible line on women's issues and policies. One also
notes that some of the most prominent women in international surveying and
realty companies are American, as is the case in Jones Lang LaSalle (see
'Chicago Hopefuls' 10.06.05 at www.propertyweek.co.uk). This may signify
that American women have benefited earlier from equality programmes to
forward their career, or that British women are not seen to be as
suitable, or possibly less glamorous.

But on closer inspection it is noticeable that some of these
appointments are of women who came into 'property' from a generic business
background, recruited apparently for their commercial track-record not for
excelling in the built environment professions. But there are a few women
who do gain success because of their professional and technological
abilities, such as Vanessa Lawrence who previously chaired the Association
for Geographic Information. The London Eye (the Millennium Wheel) was
designed by a husband and wife team of architects, David Marks and Julia
Barfield, although it is significant that Julia's name has often been left
out in media reports on the design of the Wheel. One also finds women
heading urban regeneration schemes and other multi-million pound projects
(see Planning 15.07.05, pp 18 at www.haynet.com But at the same time one
finds research and articles stating that 'women are pushed to the margins
in regeneration', often taking on administrative or public relations
posts, rather than strategic policy and decision-making roles. But one
does not necessarily find women-friendly employment practices or
women-aware urban policy decisions in the organisations that they head
(Reeves and Greed, 2005). There have also been some high-profile sexual
harassment cases in large surveying firms, although some would say this
was the tip of the iceberg as many women do not feel they are in a
senior-enough position to speak out. It would seem that nowadays men have
a wide range of types of women to chose from, and they are the most likely
to select those that 'fit in' and are 'don't make waves' (Monagham, 2004).

Overall, there seems to be a vast gap between such successful women and
the rank and file of women in the built environment professions,
particularly in respect of salary and 'bonuses.' This is even more so in
the City where a few top women in the financial and property world receive
literally millions of pounds in end of year bonuses (like top men) whereas
as everyone else struggles to pay their mortgage. But are most women
surveyors aware of such inequality, both between men and women, and
between women and other women? Many are more concerned about gaining
better conditions of employment, than simply money. For example the recent
RICS survey, 'Raising the Ratio' found that many women wanted more
flexibility in terms of hours in order to establish a better 'home/work'
balance (RIC,2003). In our research on why women leave architecture (De
Graft-Johnson et al, 2003) we found that many women still encounter a
hostile, male, macho office environment. A long hours culture
predominated, in which working late into the evening, or even overnight
was seen as good practice and a sign of commitment. Instead women would
rather 'work smart' rather than 'work long', and many commented that men
were slow and tended to achieve very little in spite of working longer
hours (De Graft-Johnson et al, 2005).

So to conclude this short paper, quantitatively the situation appears
to have improved, but 'more does not necessarily mean better' because
qualitatively the 'game' has become more complex (Greed, 2005). More women
are now let in to the built environment professions, but sophisticated
hidden mechanisms control and delimit their progress. Whilst a few women
are always let through and become 'successful' one has to be very careful
not to equate this with progress for all. There is an old feminist saying
in England, 'while the women were playing tennis, the men were playing
football'. In other words one must be very careful to make sure that goals
and achievements really are a sign of progress and not an indication that
the whole game has changed into something else. For example, whilst women
have campaigned for equality in respect of recruitment, job interview
procedures and employment practices, it is estimated that over 60% of jobs
are filled not by advertisement but by word of mouth, through traditional
male networking. Likewise, whilst women campaign for equal pay, in many
surveying and, also, architectural firms, there is a complex system of
bonuses, perks and benefits that are over and above actual salary.
Meanwhile young women continue, bravely, to enter surveying, perhaps
over-confident that 'everything is going to be all right now'. They are
certainly made to feel welcome as the construction industry as a whole is
experiencing a 'manpower' shortage at all levels, manual, skilled,
managerial and professional. According to the Chartered Institute of
Building, English is not the first language of over 80% of workers on
London building sites, and there is going to be a major skills and
manpower shortage with all the construction for the Olympic Games. Migrant
male labour being a major means of filling skills shortages within
construction according to the European Institute of Construction Labour
Research (see www.efbh.be and clarkel@wmin.ac.uk). So the situation is
more complex than when I did my original research on women and planning,
the situation is paradoxical and contradictory with examples of great
individual success but also overall marginalisation of women surveyors in
many respects.

Many construction, surveying, science and engineering degree course
places are also unfilled, as young people, nowadays, seem to prefer to
study, law, management studies, media studies, or even environmental
studies. They appear to have very ignorant perceptions of the nature of
the shunned subjects or the nature and scope of the careers they offer. So
the construction industry and property professions are turning to women,
ethnic minorities, mature returners, and non-surveying graduates to fill
the gap. This results in a curious form of 'equality' in which there
appears to be few concessions made to meet the requirements of these new
groups. Introducing a more diverse range of groups into the built
environment professions should result in changes in work practices and
organisational culture: or perhaps it will simply result in people trying
it for a while and then leaving out of frustration - at huge personal and
financial cost.

As for 'getting more women' into surveying, the profession is still
besotted by the idea of recruiting young women. For example a recent
article stated, 'it's time people realised surveying is sexy and cool'
Property Week 28.05.04, and included three case studies of successful
young women surveyors in their twenties. Likewise an item in RICS Business
February 2006, page 30-21 on 'narrowing the gender gap' stressed that
being young and female can be a positive advantage in today's property
professions. But there was no mention of the problems that women surveyors
are likely to encounter when they start families, or when they get older
and want to be promoted into more senior jobs. Perhaps the ideal woman
surveyor, is the eternally young woman surveyor! Meanwhile all the other
women surveyors live their lives, and strive to achieve respect and
credibility in their chosen profession. Undoubtedly some things have got
better but we are not there yet. How all this will turn out in say ten
years time who knows? Will surveying as we know it still exist? Will the
profession still want women? Will women still want to go into surveying?

References

De Graft-Johnson,A., Manley,S. and Greed,C. (2003) Why do women
leave architecture RIBA commissioned study, (London, Royal Institution
of British Architects) see
www.riba.org.uk for full report, summary and RIBA response
documents.

Greed,C (1990) Surveying Sisters: Women in a Traditional Male
Profession London and New York: Routledge.

Greed,C. (ed) (2003) Report on Gender Auditing and Mainstreaming:
Incorporating case studies and pilots, Research Report edited by C.Greed,
with research contributions by Linda Davies, Caroline Brown and
Stephanie Dühr, London: RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute) and at
www.rtpi.org.uk

De Graft-Johnson,A., Manley,S and Greed.C (2005) 'Diversity or the
lack of it in the architectural profession', Construction Management and
Economics: Special Issue on 'Diversity and Equality in Education', Vol.
23, No.10, pp 1035-1043.

RIBA (2003) Why do women leave architecture? RIBA commissioned
study. and on RIBA web site, study by Ann De Graft-Johnson, Sandra
Manley and Clara Greed, University of the West of England, Bristol. Go
to www.riba.org.uk then chose
'gender'.

RICS (2003) Raising the Ratio Investigation of composition of the
surveying profession Kingston,London: University of Kingston on Thames,
undertaken by Louise Ellman and Sarah Sayce), and see
www.rics.org. and
L.Ellison@kingston.ac.uk.